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Wednesday, 1 July 2015

IWSG July: Summer's in the air

Welcome to July's Insecure Writer's Support Group post! IWSG was set up by the amazing Alex J. Cavanaugh. It's a place where anyone can post their monthly writing insecurities - to find out more about this fantastic group, visit the official IWSG website.

A few weeks ago I decided to make a writing schedule for the rest of the year. I've never done anything like this before - normally I'll pencil a date in my diary when I want to finish key milestones by (e.g. first draft, final draft) but that's it. Also, I've only ever worked on one project at once before, so it wasn't like my writing schedule was exactly full (although, for a first time author, I still found it very demanding).

This year I've decided to set myself more of a challenge. Instead of just writing one book this year, I've decided to try and write four. Yup, that's right -it's my aim to complete four novels by the end of the year. Why would I put myself through this, I hear you cry? Well, as much as I loved taking my time writing Synthetica, the fact is that I'm not going to grow as an indie author if I don't write more books. I don't want to be an author that churns out a book every month (I doubt I could do that, even if writing was my full time job!), but I do want to start converting all those ideas that are in my head into actual books. I love writing so much, and eventually I want this to be my full time career, which means I'm going to have to start and get serious about how much I'm writing.

I'm actually already behind schedule if I'm honest. But luckily me and the Engineer are currently housesitting for a friend for a couple of weeks, so I'm hoping being in a new place without so many distractions will prove to be a positive (I think it'll also help because that house is the place where I wrote the bulk of Synthetica last summer. So I feel like this house has good vibes). Also, it's nearly the summer holidays (yippee!) which is when I'm planning on getting most of my writing done. I find that the long days and light nights (as well as the six week break from work, obviously!) really help to boost my writing confidence.

However, I'm trying not to get too discouraged by the fact that I'm already behind schedule, and the fact that I'm finding it a struggle to write about new characters and worlds that I haven't invested much time in yet. I know all my characters from Synthetica, and I know their world like the back of my hand (mostly). But I'm so scared that I don't have it in me to do it all over again, with a brand new set of characters in a brand new world. I think I've kinda forgotten how much effort goes into creating new worlds, that I'm daunted by the thought of starting all over again. But I guess we'll just have to see how it goes.Do you think it's possible to write four novels in six months? Have you/would you ever attempt it? Do you find it hard to write multiple books at a time? Do you find it hard to switch from finishing one series to starting work on a brand new book?

That's great! I love having goals/deadlines - but only if I can stick to them, otherwise I find them depressing when I get behind. Thank you :)!! Don't worry - my book took me about that long, so this year is going to be a bit of a challenge!

Wow, four novels in six months is a big goal! I wrote my last novel in two months and I thought I pumped it out fast (granted, it was a contemporary so there wasn't too much world building!) But I think you can do anything you set your mind to. Just don't be discouraged if you only write two or three instead of four! Even writing one novel in that amount of time would be a great accomplishment.

To answer your other question, I have a hard time switching gears once I'm working on a novel. Once I'm in that mode and I've got the setting and voice down, I kind of want to work on it until nothing else comes. But I know other people switch back and forth between projects. I personally need to focus on one at a time.

Wow, two months?! That's awesome!! I hope I can work that hard! That's good advice - I have a feeling I'm going to be someone who can only work on one project at a time too...we'll see how it goes! Thank you for the encouragement, Kristin :)!

Good luck! :) I can draft a novel fairly quickly (1-2 months) but the editing takes a lot longer. I'm really envious of writers who can draft and PUBLISH a novel in only a month, because it takes multiple drafts before I can share my writing with anyone!

I am not sure I could write that fast but having a schedule sounds like a good idea. Having time away from distractions always helps my productivity and the summer holidays I am looking forward to as well. Good luck, Rachel :)

I think you can do it. The writing bug has bitten you and now the ideas are streaming in. That is fantastic! I'm obsessive, so personally I am planning to stick to just my one series for a few years and maybe write a few standalone books. But there is no reason why you can't write more than one series at a time. Gena Showalter has numerous series, and she publishes more than one book a year, while editing and writing as well. So, it can be done. I hope you enjoy your time off and that you get tons of writing done. Wishing you the best.

Aww thank you so much, Murees :)!! Your plan sounds much more sensible than mine! I'll have to see if I can force myself out of one world and into another! That's encouraging to hear - there may be hope for me yet ;). Thank you :)!!

Thank you Lexa :)! I hope the house works it's magic on my writing this time round too! Just a shame the owners are coming back for the summer...maybe I can persuade them to stay away for another six weeks so I can do my writing ;)

Good luck with your goal. 4 books in a year? Depends on how long they are and in what stage of development each one is. Writing 4 from scratch would be impossible for me. But everyone is different. Good luck!

Thanks Diane! They're all in different stages tbh - I have the complete outline for one, I vaguely know the outline for two more but the last one is still being stubborn and is just floating around my head. I can't seem to draw the inspiration to develop it at the moment!

I've recently decided I'm a one story at a time gal, and pretty sure that those stories need at least a year each.. maybe more (when do you count as "starting?" Some of my ideas have been percolating for years)....